It has magical properties that require no cleaning, oil, or any care whatsoever. You can use it in a salty/humid environment & have NO WORRIES. WRONG! It can & will rust/pit just like any other steel, perhaps a bit slower.

Well, yeah. It's stain-less, not rust proof.

I've seen victims of the myth; rusted stainless guns and parts, sad really.

So many different types, too. I've actually seen some that, once electropolished, sat untouched for years on a boat exposed to salt air and it never even lost the perfect mirror finish.
That isn't the norm, unfortunately.

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Halfway and one more step

All depends on the grade and quality of the stainless....

Having lived along the coast I can tell you that the salt air/water will rust plastic.

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Forum consigliere

Years ago the U.T. Marine Science Lab in Port Aransas did a study on protective paints. Port A was determined to be the most destructive atmosphere (for steel) next to some place in the Persian Gulf. The south east breeze, salt air with fine sand suspended in it is like sandblasting mixed with acid wash.
The Wild Horse desert, land of sand and rust.

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Halfway and one more step

I ate up quite a bit of stainless in the chemical research lab, sometimes under not so tough conditions, depending on the type and the environment.

Anybody remember Cor-Ten structural steel that didn't need paint because it made a 'protective layer' of it's own? Well, the 'protective layer' looked just like rust. A memo went out not to use the stuff any more because it ended up looking worse than the structure it replaced. Maybe it wasn't made for a paper mill environment, but still......

One quality of stainless steel is that, being non-magnetic it shoots straighter because steel guns always try to point north.

You can bet your backside I'm gonna use that one

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Forum consigliere

I purchased a brand new M60 in the 70's (from a gun store) and when I removed the grips later that evening there was surface rust on the metal. Yes..... it's Stain - LESS not Stain - Proof

Absolutely! I have stainless fittings on the boat that have never been effected by salt and others that corrode in days

Stainless Steel Information Knowledge | 18-8 | 304 | 316

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Still Running Against the Wind

I believe many guns are made from an alloy with carbon(400 grade), and this is why you'll get the problem. Your 300 grades don't have it and are non-magnetic.

Gold would be the perfect metal if it was hard.. titanium is next in line for being corrosion resistant.

Ain't it da trooth!

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NULLI SECUNDUS

That only works if your gun is 300-series. 400-series stainless is quite magnetic.

Don't believe. Take a knife with a "440C Surgical Stainless Steel Blade" and touch it to a magnet.

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I always take precautions

All stainless steels have SOME iron and carbon in them. If they don't, then they aren't steel anymore.

How To Passivate Stainless Steel Parts : Modern Machine Shop

Passivation is an essential step to keep your steel stain free.

How to Brew - By John Palmer - Passivating Stainless Steel

Home brew for keeping your steel stain free.

Passivation was the word I've been trying to remember. More than 20 years ago I learned about this in my Surface Treatment of Metals class. If the surface of SS is damaged, usually a scratch, it can rust. Depending on the environment it is more likely to rust.

My stainless Ruger Blackhawk fell off my tailgate while I was out checking hog traps. Later that afternoon I realized that it was missing, and retraced my route, with no results. Two years later, I found it partially buried beside a cattle trail. Obviously, it was muddy, but there was not a trace of rust. Even the Hunter holster came through pretty well, even though something had been chewing on it. I think that since I keep my guns, and holsters (overly) oiled, I was very lucky. OTOH, I have stainless knives that will rust in a heartbeat.

Water containing chlorides is a real problem for SS alloys. If the water is too aggressive for 304 we go to 316. If it's too aggressive for 316 we use AL6XN.

Useful tool: Crevice Corrosion Engineering Guide

Jeff

Saying stainless steel has "some" iron in it is like saying bread has "some" flour in it--it's the main ingredient and comprises way more than all the rest of the ingredients combined.

Some stainless steels are magnetic and some are not, and it's not because of the iron content.

Very well put.

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I always take precautions

Your body sweat can stain the finish on a stainless revolver. The in the pants holsters are no good in the hot weather with stainless guns.
Maybe I eat too much garlic to keep the bugs from bugging me.

Ah mythology! You do hear it w/ stainless steel. Once upon a time you heard it with various grades/types of carbon steel. It's a hoot to hear people laud Bofors steel, Swedish steel, Damascus steel, etc., etc. Each has particular qualities, some of which are only advertising fluff. But non are magic.

As to stainless steel, it is a real advance, especially for firearms. It may cause those who appreciate beautifully blued firearms to get apoplectic, but in equivalent conditions with equivalent maintenance or lack thereof, stainless steel will out perform carbon steel in field use. One need only think of police officers who carried revolvers in all sorts of weather conditions. When S&W brought stainless steel revolvers to market, police officers wanted the stainless steel revolvers. Anyone who hunts in inclement weather understands all the way to the ground the rational for preferring a stainless steel firearm.

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All true, but it's so much better in Georgia's humidity than a blued gun that there is no comparison. You can just glance at a high-polished blued gun in late July/early August and flecks of surface rust will pop up on it.

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Georgia On My Mind

Now I understand why I tend to hit low and to the left. My target stand is on the east side, on a little rise in the backyard. Don't happen with my 65 but does with my 37 with the steel barrel and cylinder.
Peace,
Gordon

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better have that checked

Can you tell me about electropolishing? Is that a process used by any gun manufacturers? Or all of them?

I have read that excessive Flitz applied to a SS revolver wears through some type of layer. Was it the electroplating what they were referring to?

I used to work for a large, stainless steel fabricator. One of the things we built were large pressure vessels for pharmaceutical use. The insides were electro-polished.

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'Merica!

No gun manufacturers have made SS guns because they won't rust or don't need to be oiled. Pure SS, without a carbon steel content, is nearly useless when compared to all SS alloy. Same can be said of aluminum. Most are alloy. Most myths are perpetuated by those who have little knowledge or understanding of the subject.

It is mis-named. Should have been Stainsless, not stainless.


Cat

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Think for yourself.

Steel without carbon isn't "pure," in fact it's not even steel anymore--it's iron. Steel is an alloy. The addition of chrome (and sometimes nickel as well other metals) to the steel alloy makes it stainless.

"Stainless steel" was probably originally a brand name, like Kleenex or Thermos or Xerox. Either that or an advertising slogan.

I know the Navy does not call it "stainless". They call it Cres.

Corrosion resistant.

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I always take precautions

Maybe so but those are the best ones!

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Forum consigliere

[QUOTE=Old TexMex;137821146]Years ago the U.T. Marine Science Lab in Port Aransas did a study on protective paints. Port A was determined to be the most destructive atmosphere (for steel) next to some place in the Persian Gulf. The south east breeze, salt air with fine sand suspended in it is like sandblasting mixed with acid wash.

I live just up the coast from Port A, and Old TexMex ain't kidding about how quickly things rust. Despite it's corrosive atmosphere Port A and the surrounding area is a beautiful place to live or visit.

Well.. we could make all the little pistols out of titanium!?
..it being such a cheap metal!

It's funny, titanium is actually an incredibly common metal--so common in fact that it is what makes white paint 'white' (titanium dioxide.) The problem lies in refining it; it's an expensive and time consuming process.

Also to fabricate titanium can run up the cost real fast!
Every metal is different and titanium is in a different class all together!

Well, maybe that'll change one day.

Y'all know, the top of the Washington Monument is aluminum. They used aluminum because it was such a rare and costly metal. Just the thing for capping off such a wonderful monument to the Father of Our Country.

Then they figgered out how to refine it cheaper. Now it's so cheap it's throw-away.

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I always take precautions

And the aluminum was made from corundum from the Carolinas.

As someone in the metalworking trades, this is something we have to battle on a regular basis. People just want to believe that something is perfect.

Each grade of steel, from A36 on up to the fancy A588 weathering steel and 304 stainless and the AR plates ARE perfect, for the applications that they're designed for. There's no one solution to every problem. The reason engineers get their shiny nickels every week is because they know how to select the right steel for the project.